


Like A Painting

by magicasen



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M, Mistletoe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 15:39:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13126725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicasen/pseuds/magicasen
Summary: Tony wasn't sure what compelled him to go for it. A dare? Curiosity? A check on the bucket list?Either way, what mattered was that Steve Rogers had never found a challenge he wouldn't take.





	Like A Painting

**Author's Note:**

  * For [scifigrl47](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scifigrl47/gifts).



 

“A Christmas party, here?” Steve pulled a garland from the box with faint disapproval, like he was Captain America, the Grinch, and not Captain America, volunteer Santa at half-a-dozen events that he admitted to, and at least four he'd never fessed up to.

“Be proper, they're holiday parties now. And why not? You live here now, why not break the place in a bit?” Tony waved his hand at Steve's office, which hadn't changed from the initial floor plan, months after the Avengers had moved into the complex upstate.

It was an interesting angle from the other side of the desk.

“Wanda put a hole in the wall two weeks back,” Steve said.

“She hasn't outdone me at the age of eight yet, and we still used the mansion for our party. Stark holiday gala: the place to be for the fifty-and-older billionaire crowd.”

That won him a smile, even if Steve tried to hide it by dipping his head.

“Are you going to tell the story?”

“If you want me to.”

Steve huffed and continued his exploration of the box's contents.

He was too proud to admit he wanted things. Sure, he'd raise hell and high water to do what he liked, but his answer for _why_ was a shrug and a smile to brush the question off.

“You're not against it, are you?” Tony picked up the abandoned garland; it left metallic strands on his shirt. “Happy already asked for all the boxes. Think of the symbolism. That's your calling. Avengers: new family, new home. New beginning.”

Steve was uncharacteristically clumsy in untangling a string of lights, like the idea of it unsettled him.

“Who put this in here? ” Steve suddenly asked. He frowned at the sprig of mistletoe, twirling it around like he was trying to reconcile it with everything else in there.

“No clue. They have these back in your day, Cap?”

“Probably? Mostly I thought they only existed for holiday prints.”

“You were at the best parties growing up, weren't you?” Tony leaned his hip against the desk, and threw Steve a smirk. “I mean, if you already have plans with any cute former SHIELD agents, it's fine. No need to feel obligated, just because the rest of us have no strings attached.”

Steve studiously ignored Tony, like he still thought it could worked.

“You should really consider making plans, for her sake. No better boy to impress the folks with, right?”

Steve didn't even smile, and Tony had to reconsider the inappropriate romantic needling approach. Luckily, he was the master of deflecting embarrassment, so he reached for the mistletoe.

“What do you think? Vision and Wanda might want a turn with it? Hmm, overprotective big brother isn't a bad look on you, Cap. It makes the hardheadedness relatable.” Tony reached for the mistletoe and plucked it away.

Steve's fingers wrapped around his wrist, tugging it effortlessly to the side. His thumb was pressed right to Tony's vein, and Tony's insides gave a little belly flop.

“Not a good change of topic, okay. You're welcome to a plus one, of course, sneak her in under the mistletoe,” Tony said, knowing it wasn't what Steve wanted to hear.

“Tony.” Steve's voice was stern. Usually his admonishment was thinly-veiled amusement, but Tony's insistence had left his face flushed.

“No interest? Natasha will be disappointed, after she tried to set you up with so many people.” Tony considered their current situation. “So many women, I mean.”

“Why are you two talking about my love life?” Steve asked, still holding onto Tony's wrist, making the odds that this would work out in Tony's favor soar.

“I'd like to say you're not that special and we do it to everyone. But nah. We care. Don't ask me to repeat that. It's not a bad thing to have attachments to the present day. Think of this.” Tony raised the arm Steve was holding above their heads. His heart was racing so fast, you'd think he was in the armor. “As taking a shortcut.”

Steve's eyes flicked up at the mistletoe, and didn't let go of Tony's hand. Tony watched Steve's Adam's apple bob, before his eyes met Tony's.

Steve's never found a challenge he couldn't take, so he grabbed Tony's shoulder and hauled him in.

Tony's stomach swooped when their lips met, and he dropped the mistletoe. It itched against the crown of his head, and Steve grumbled when Tony paused to brush it off with his free hand.

Steve's grip on Tony's wrist above them tightened, keeping it suspended, and Tony thought he'd swoon.

After a moment to adjust to the turn of events, the gears in the back of Tony's mind set into motion. There was a curious buzz, as the kiss showed no sign of letting up, to figure out the different sides of Captain America. Each new piece were answers to a puzzle Tony hadn't known he needed solved.

Tony had kissed a lot of people in his lifetime, and he didn't know how to compare Steve to anyone, not when the man kissed with such intense single-mindedness. Tony was perfectly happy with eager bordering on overenthusiastic, wet, and a little dirty. Plus, the ever-present possibility that Steve could lift Tony up and put against the wall did wonders to heat things up.

It was a shame they'd initiated the kiss on opposite sides of a desk, and then Steve's tongue swiped over his and Tony's regrets were small things.

Tony moaned, purely for curiosity's sake, and it paid off, because Steve's fingers worked his way to the side of Tony's jaw, holding him firmly in place. Tony was aware that he was being pushed back, and the angle was awkward, no leverage when they were so far apart to begin with. A bit further, and Tony might end up pushed right over.

Tony broke the kiss and carefully pushed Steve back, and wow, Steve had brought his knee up onto the desk in his eagerness. Something could be said for all that enthusiasm.

“Would you look at that? I guess it's not just for paintings after all.” Tony took a step back, straightening his shirt and smoothing out the creases. His lips tingled, oversensitive.

“That's all you've got to say?” Steve said, plopping down on his high-backed chair.

Tony shrugged. “I'm not embarrassed.” Although give him some time to work on some fantasies with this new fodder and even he might admit defeat. “Why, are you?”

Steve's face heated up, and he tried to hide a smile in his fist. “I'm not...I'll get over it.” His eyelashes fanned over his flushed cheeks, and what Tony would give for him to never get over it.

Tony cleared his throat. “Anyway, I have to get back to the city. Meetings, you know how it is. Get Vision to help you out with the rest of the decorating. JARVIS always liked Christmas, so I'm sure...and Vision even matches the color scheme!” He backed up, waving a hand. “I'll see you around, yes?”

Steve blinked, tilting his head, assessing, before nodding slowly.

Tony turned heel, aware that Steve was watching his every step, and very aware of how well these pants showed off his ass. But mostly, he was aware of just how much alone time in his office he could squeeze in before his meeting this afternoon.

* * *

The Christmas tree reached the two stories of the complex, bright and glittery, like something that would get its picture taken if it were placed in Manhattan. Tony leaned back and smiled from his view near the door, rocking back and forth on his heels.

Credit where credit was due for the decorations, but whoever had done the mistletoe placement was getting moved back in the priority queue for gear upgrades. That fateful piece of mistletoe had been hung right near the entrance way, and Tony hadn't spotted any others hanging around.

So far, Tony had an admittedly awkward peck on the cheek with Sam and a chaste kiss from Maria, although he prided in being humored by her.

Natasha had kissed him on the cheek, almost at the corner of his eye, and when they'd parted and he'd clapped his hand over his face, she'd smiled and said something about laugh lines before leaving him.

Of course, there was no convenient loitering around in the place where people were supposed to take off their coats and scarves, but Tony'd been sufficiently inebriated that his below-average sense of shame had completely withered away.

And Steve, damn him, sitting on the other end of the table for dinner, and on a different sofa during the gift exchange, and being such a good team leader that he was making small talk with everyone else on the team. Even before the kiss, Tony might have felt slighted that Steve was treating him like any other member of the team, but now it was even worse.

Yet Steve hadn't been the gracious host to greet everyone upon entering. No, that had been Vision's job, and he'd delighted in floating up and kissing foreheads all around.

Everyone had been delighted tonight. Even Wanda, where there'd been some worry about her reaction to the Frankenstein's monster of American commercialism, had seemed to enjoy the universal enjoyments of good food and drink.

For once, Tony had helped bring together a team who all liked each other. No room reading where Tony had to mediate and disperse the energy and laughter. He could take a step back if he wanted to, or needed to.

And there they had it. Tony was getting all good and sentimental in his retiree life. And to think, he wanted to throw the holiday party here to raise everyone else's spirits.

“Oh, that's where you went off to.”

“Hey, eggnog.”

“Eggnog? That's it? Your game's slipping.”

Tony brought Rhodey in for a hug, clapping him on the back and kissing him on the cheek.

“Mistletoe,” he said when they parted, and Rhodey had definitely had his own share of drinks, Mr. Off-Duty and all, because he grinned at Tony.

“Mistletoe's an even worse name— _oh_.” Rhodey's eyes comically widened when Tony pointed above them. “Whoa. You? Being this cliché? Who're you waiting for, Helen of Troy?”

Tony laughed, patting Rhodey on the shoulder. He'd given some thought to the team's reactions were this Steve thing to go any further, which was weird, because he hadn't cared about getting anyone's approval since his parents died.

In conclusion, Rhodey would not approve, from the fraternization angle, even if Tony was a consultant, and even if he was consistently pro-Tony being with people who weren't cowed by him. Usually, they connected on some level.

“It'd be much easier if it was her and not Achilles, right?”

“Huh. What?” Rhodey squinted at him. “Really?”

He was still smiling. Tony should break all the news to him when he was drunk, this was much better than assessing looks and careful questioning.

“When did that start?” Rhodey continued, and the more he spoke, the further his smile drooped. “

“It...hasn't?”

Rhodey's smile was dropping the longer he stood around, and Tony turned him around, giving him a small push. “You know, they were trading war stories in the kitchen, last I heard, you should go do your outranking thing.”

“We're not done,” Rhodey told him, making an _I'm watching you_ gesture.

Well, Tony considered after Rhodey had left, his stomach still had some butterflies, but that had gone surprisingly well. Chalk it up to holiday good will and the leftovers they had of Asgardian mead.

Before someone cleared their throat, and Tony looked up, and held up his hands.

“Whoa there. We agreed we were only doing White Elephant, what is that?”

“Which is why you got individual presents for the rest of us?” Steve shifted the present in his hands. It was flat and huge, and Tony wondered where he'd stashed it away for the evening.

“Think of it as an executive bonus.”

“Then, this is a party favor,” Steve said, and shoved the present into Tony's hands.

Tony's eyes flitted between the present and Steve as he hefted the weight. Surprisingly light for its size, so probably not a gag gift. Not that he knew what to expect from Steve at all. “You alright if I open this now? I'm asking for formality's sake, because I was going to go for it no matter what you answered.”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

Tony ripped the paper off, tossing it to the side, and of course Steve leaned down to pick up the pieces. Tony watched him from the corner of his eye, because Steve had on another ridiculously tight shirt. If you reached out, you could stroke a finger right between his pecs.

After he finished unwrapping the present, Tony concluded that whatever guess he could have made about what it was would have been wrong.

“Did you...frame a poster of yourself? For me?”

The Steve here was in his current uniform, with the Avengers “A” and everything. Still the same slogan, though, and maybe “I want _you!”_ had a very different connotation for Tony. 

“I saw the poster you have of me back at the Tower, I figured you could use an upgrade,” Steve said, and was that a smirk? It wasn't like Tony was doing anything untowards about it. Steve should have seen the newspaper clippings Tony kept of Bruce Banner, or the photos of the Chitaru aftermath on New York, because try as hard as he liked, he was still a sentimental SOB.

“It reminded me of home; we had a poster of you on the wall,” Tony said, and okay, bad move, dropping that fact.

“Maybe it'll inspire you,” Steve said, and oh, he was batting his eyelashes now, wasn't he?

Inspire Tony same as it did when he'd been a teenager, more like, and the delight of Steve trolling with him made Tony lick his lips. He propped the frame against the wall.

“Hey, so, mistletoe.”

“I know. I put it there.”

“You? Really?” Tony put his hands on Steve's hips. “Why'd you put it in such a crappy spot?”

“It's not,” Steve smiled, like he was sharing a secret. “No one to bother us, because who's gong to leave here before midnight? And there's the coat room,” Steve said primly, as his hands slid around Tony's waist. Tony admired the muscles in his shoulders before Steve tilted his head at an angle to kiss. Not the right angle, but it was fine, Tony would give him all the time to adjust.

And okay, there was a reason Steve made the calls for the team, because there was no way this display could have been made in polite company. Steve's kisses were as intense as their first, but now their bodies were flush together, and their hands could go anywhere.

Tony moaned, and Steve's fingers slipped under his shirt, a shock against his bare skin. Steve made him _ache,_ like any good harlequin romance hero. From what Tony was feeling, Steve was in the same boat.

“So,” Tony said, after they'd parted and he tried to keep his breathing under control. “I'm throwing a wrench in your carefully constructed plan. We're not going to give each other a hand in a coat room for our first time.” 

“Well, I was hoping I'd get to blow you, instead,” Steve said, and Tony's brain broke a little. 

“Bed. Your bed. Any bed, I don't care at this point.”

“Is that okay? The party...”

“You said it already, no one's leaving before midnight. Everyone's split off into their own little groups, no one'll notice. Or we can wait a few hours.”

Tony didn't want to admit it, but he felt ready to go off any time now. From the bulge in Steve's tight, _tight_ pants, he reckoned Steve wasn't much better off. They really wouldn't take long at all, and they could go right back to the party.

Steve took his hand, and Tony took the frame, and looking at it, flipped it so that the photo was against the wall.

They made it to the bedroom in record time, leaving behind the sounds of chatter and laughter. It was a shame about the military training, because after Tony let Steve go to work on freeing his own pants, he looked up and Steve was fully naked and tossing a shirt to the corner.

Tony would complain about the no fun later, because there were few things more fun than getting his hands on a naked Steve.

“Take that off,” Steve muttered, reaching up and trying to pull Tony's shirt up. Tony let him, watching Steve's gaze sweep up his torso as his chest was exposed. The shirt dropped to the floor, and Steve was edging him back.

They fell back onto the bed, Steve's arms bracketing Tony. Tony took the opportunity to look his fill. Steve's cock bobbed between his legs, and Tony studied it. It was dark and of a fair size. It'd fill Tony up nicely, from either end, although Tony wasn't sure they'd last all the way until there tonight.

Steve was watching him, and Tony decided to hum in approval. The noise made Steve blush, a grin working at the side of his mouth.

“This is the best present,” Tony said, and Steve tilted his head, before dropping his chin down and chuckling. His fingers closed around Tony's cock, and cutting off Tony's next words. He stroked the length a few times, and Tony tilted his hips into it encouragingly. Steve's hand was warm and rough around Tony, but also frustratingly loose.

“Don't be shy,” Tony said, “I know you don't touch yourself like this. Mm, that'd be a sight, wouldn't it? Do it a bit tighter, squeeze it, right, right, you got it. See, just pretend I'm not here.”

“I don't think I can do that,” Steve laughed. His breath was warm and wet against Tony's collarbone.

“You don't—don't have a little voice in your head telling you how sexy you are and how fuckable you look?” Tony muttered.

“Tony,” Steve said, and he pressed his head into Tony's shoulder, pushing him a bit back, like he was trying to ground himself, letting go and running his hands up and down Tony's side.

“Hey, what—”

Steve followed the movement of his hands, his forehead pressing against Tony's side, and Tony's stomach dropped. Then Steve lifted his head, and fitted his lips over Tony's cock.

“Good, good,” Tony said, thoughtless praise spilling out, and he didn't know if it was instinct or practice that made Steve a natural. He wasn't sure he wanted to know, and he jerked his hips a bit, to watch his cock slip between Steve's lips. Steve moaned in surprise around his mouth, and he squeezed his eyes. Steve's hand came back around Steve's cock but this time the pace he set was hard and fast.

Steve changed his angle, leaning forward, and Tony adjusted to fit. There was a flurry of movement, with wet, hard noises, and Tony had to crane his neck to realize Steve was jerking himself off. _Holy,_ and that was what it took for him to throw his head back and come. His regrets at coming too quickly were washed away by the orgasm, his mind riding the waves.

There was a splash on his stomach, and Tony blinked the climax out of his eyes, propping himself up on his elbows.

“Huh,” Tony said, much wetter than he'd expected.

“Sorry, I didn't...know there'd be so much,” Steve mumbled. He wiped his chin, where come was still dribbling. Jesus, he'd marked Steve Rogers like that.

“No worries,” Tony said breezily, scrambling up. “Please tell me you haven't come yet.”

Steve shook his head. “But it's a close thing.”

“Oh thank god,” Tony said, and Steve went when he rolled them over, and this was a hell of a vantage point. Steve's chest rose and fell as he watched him, and his hair was in danger of falling into his eyes.

Steve jerked when Tony touched him, and Tony quickly backed off.

“It's fine. I'm just...sensitive,” Steve mumbled, and he was trembling already in Tony's grip moving slowly up and down.

“Sensitive, really?” Tony curled in a hollow next to Steve. Steve turned his head, and they shared a kiss. When they let go, Tony smirked, letting a finger run over Steve's balls. “Have you ever tried anything with your ass? You should, it's an amazing ass.”

Steve's sigh turned into a moan as Tony picked up the pace.

“Can you come more than once? How many times can you come, with that sexy super-soldier serum? You...yeah, you need to try it all out, cock and ass and nipples too, if you're that sensitive you'll love anything, won't you?”

Steve made a desperate sound, and god, Tony had already come, or else he'd want to, from knowing how much Steve Rogers enjoyed dirty talk.

“Tony,” Steve gasped, and then came all over Tony's hand. Tony caught the come, spreading it over Steve's cock as he pumped him through the aftershocks.

Steve's body slowly relaxed, the tension seeping out as Tony smiled at him. Steve was red, and he rubbed his face, before sighing.

“You're not embarrassed, are you?”

“I'm not...I'll get over it.”

“Hey, heat of the moment, we say things, it's a common thing.”

“It was worth it,” Steve said.

“Yeah, few things worth turning down an orgasm for.” And there, a way to angle into asking if they could do this again, multiple times, even. “I'm pretty sure Rhodey thought we were fuckbuddies earlier.”

Steve's face was turned all the way into the bedspread, with a single eye watching Tony. It was a bit eerie, and Tony grew hot around the collar.

“Is that what this is?” Steve asked slowly.

Tony turned onto his back, scratching his chest. The bed was too expensive for him to feel Steve roll over, but his side was cold.

“I'm hot, you're hot, we're lonely. So, maybe?”

“...I'm not lonely.”

Tony brought his gaze over. The tense lines of Steve's back made the muscles there even harder to ignore.

“Okay,” Tony said airily. “Then, I'll think of better names for what we are—can be.”

He watched as Steve's shoulders relaxed.

 


End file.
